1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to endless belts, such as power transmission belts, and, more particularly, to a belt handling system for placing a belt in an operative position to be driven around spaced pulleys and for selectively repositioning the belt relative to the pulleys from an engaged state into a disengaged state wherein the belt is not driven as one or both of the pulleys are rotated.
2. Background Art
It is well known to manually mount a power transmission belt around a pair of spaced pulleys and to change the relative position of the pulleys to increase and decrease the tension applied to a belt trained therearound. It is also known to move the pulleys closer together to release tension on the belt and then to manually separate the belt from the pulleys.
Automated sizing equipment is now used in the belt manufacturing process. Typically, raw edged belts with V-shaped ribs are cut from a belt sleeve and are trained around a pair of pulleys to ascertain the length thereof. The effective operating length of the belt may be varied by grinding the side surfaces thereof so that the belt seats more deeply within the pulley grooves and is thereby effectively lengthened. The automated equipment is used to measure and produce the desired grinding on the side surfaces. The equipment then causes the belts to be separated from the pulleys.
As an example of this type of equipment, in Japanese Patent Publication No. H1-23043, a belt processing apparatus is shown for training a belt around a drive pulley and a spaced pulley which is movable relative to the drive pulley to vary the tension on the belt trained around the pulleys and to separate the belt at the appropriate time in the manufacturing process from the pulleys. To remove the belt from the pulleys, the movable pulley is moved closer to the drive pulley to release the tension on the belt. A hanger, adjacent to the drive pulley, through operation of a cylinder, engages and lifts the belt off the pulleys, separates the belt from the pulleys, and deposits the separated belt into a reception box.
However, even after the tension is reduced on the belt by relatively repositioning the pulleys, the drive pulley continues to rotate and drags the loosely wrapped belt in an endless path around the pulleys. This condition may make it difficult to engage the belt with the hanger and effect repositioning thereof through the hanger.